


Stubborn

by jeweniper



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Fairy Tale Retellings, HQ Halloweeny Week, Halloween, M/M, bc of species particulars I guess this would be a fluffy not-quite-ship fic, tsukki is a goat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 01:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5111495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeweniper/pseuds/jeweniper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukki the goat has a couple of things he doesn't really like: fresh young blueberries, limitations...and a big bad wolf with questionable priorities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stubborn

**Author's Note:**

> I was sure this was going to be late. But! I wrote this for HQ Halloweeny week day six: Fairy Tale. It's based off of the French short story **Mr. Seguin's Goat** (which is a fantastic tale and I hope you read it), I also tried to write in that style, so hopefully it entertains you. There are several nods to character traits and accepted ideas included in here, and I hope you notice them! 
> 
> Yeah. Enjoy, and happy early Halloween!

Takeda had never had any luck with his goats.

It’s not like he was a totally incompetent farmer, he was a little green, sure, but did all of his research. And for a while things would be great—until inevitably one day they would escape the field and amble up the mountain, where one of the wolves would ultimately eat them. (He assumed there was a pack of them, as he had lost a great many goats, and one wolf certainly wouldn’t eat them all, would they?) Not one cared for Takeda’s sweet disposition, nor for the rather obvious biological argument against wandering into wolf territory. Perhaps his mother was right, and goats were just too independent, unable to live without the freedom to take charge of their own lives (but she had also advised him to stick with rabbits and “the softer game”, so he surely hoped she was not right).

Gentle Takeda, who couldn’t grasp the hearts of his goats (and had a bent towards the dramatic), often worried himself sick over this predicament. In the midst of complaining to friend and vegetable farmer Ukai over drinks, as is natural when you have nothing to occupy you but farming and the chronic loss of goats, he declared, “That’s it! My mother must be right. I’m not fit to keep goats; to be in my care must be a condemnation of death!”

And Ukai had comforted him, with consoling and edamame and homebrewed beer. But of course, as you know Takeda is a stubborn sort, and he did not succumb to the arguable truth of his mother. After six goats repeated the tragic timeline, he still bought a seventh. Only this time he perused several candidates, and with the relative expertise of his friend to assist him, he knew he had selected a winner. The chosen goat was in young adolescence, so as to have a proper shot at thriving in a life with the kindhearted farmer.

Oh, what a lovely little goat Takeda had gotten! With warm amber eyes and long, knobby legs; hooves well-proportioned yet unassuming, and a short coat of hair that was light and glossy as a spool of sun-kissed thread!

He matched Ushijima’s goat for beauty—you know the one, with soft black hair and a calm disposition? Sure, Takeda’s goat had more of a _you couldn’t feed me enough grass to make me care about this_ air than the unsettled beauty surrounding Akaashi, but Ukai had suggested that would make him more docile, and Takeda was inclined to agree! Even his mother admitted to being impressed by the tall, charming Tsukki when she came for a visit.

Takeda had built the enclosure behind the house, nestled between a quiet wall of sunflowers and a tenacious bramble of fresh young blueberries—an area of poetic beauty, if he could say so. He settled the new addition there, in the corner of the softest grass and kindest shade, and made sure to give his friend plenty of slack in the tether. Throughout his daily activities he would check in on the goat, and was pleased to find him chomping on the various grasses contentedly, or occasionally listening to birdsong in the trees with an intelligent appreciation.

On one of these occasions he thought, wringing his woolen sweater in an anxious habit, “thank goodness, this one shouldn’t catch wanderlust!”

He was mistaken. Tsukki began to catch wanderlust.

Some breezy afternoon, while admiring the painterly display of clouds on the mountainside, Tsukki thought, “I bet it’s pretty nice up there, browsing the wild grasses to the tune of several orchestras of birds. Sitting in a yard is nice, for a dumb little donkey or something, but…I don’t really need this farmer keeping me tied up.”

And if Takeda thought his goat was apathetic before, boy was he in for it now! The poor thing stopped eating, spitefully pawed the blueberries, and divided his time between staring down the mountain and bleating at his tether in absolute displeasure. Takeda, being an attentive owner, understood that his Tsukki was distressed (though he could not fathom why). A few mornings later, after his water was refreshed, the goat gave a pointed look and communicated something to the effect of, “Take-chan you’ve been great and all, but I really must go to that mountain.”

Takeda nearly tripped over the hose’s coiling, wailing, “surely, you don’t mean to leave me too?”

“Yes, Take-chan.”

“Is it the blueberries? I know you’ve been aggravated with them lately…”

“Nonsense, Take-chan. There isn’t really anything wrong here. I just have to go to the mountain.”

Takeda had lost six goats already to that hellish piece of geography, and so help him if he were to lose another. He gave an Oscar-worthy lament about the wolves, ending with, “You know, I had a goat before you—Akiteru. Near as big as you and with smiling eyes, but persistent as anything! Well he got up to the mountain too, and was eaten by a vicious little thing with fur blacker than the pupil of my eyes! I don’t know how he got the jump on my big guy, but after a night of fighting I heard that howl of triumph first thing in the morning!”

“Goodness!” Tsukki exclaimed in horror. “Poor Akiteru! That aside, I’ve still got to go.”

Takeda wrung his sweater with a great ferocity. There had hardly been a pause between sympathy and defiant conviction…So with pursed lips Takeda made a valiant effort to keep the goat safe for his own good—even going so far as to lock him up in the dusty shed with the firewood and extra rabbit hutches.

But Tsukki was a smart little thing, and when the footsteps of the farmer plodded away, he immediately wriggled out of the low window, hopped the fence (with meager effort, he would be pleased to report), and skipped up the mountain with only a glimmer more enthusiasm visible in his eyes.

Takeda might have another night of drinking and second-guessing in his future, but that could not be considered one of Tsukki’s concerns, as I’m sure you could agree.

At the newcomer’s arrival the whole mountain community brightened, from the chattering crows in the trees to the puffs of dandelion tickling at his hooves. And speaking of dandelions, Tsukki very much appreciated the immediate improvement in food options—especially the abundance of wild strawberries, which curled prettily against his light hair and exploded in varying levels of rough sweetness against the ridges of his tongue. Yes, he already was increasingly glad to have left the tether at Takeda’s farm far behind. He continued to relish in his newfound freedom all afternoon, strolling along the stream and exploring the diverse underbrush.

While aimlessly following a lizard in the strawberries, Tsukki found himself in a field with a number of other grazers, most of which were some kind of goat (but with a little too much hair to really be called a goat at all). So, rather disinterested in these new neighbors, he figured he would refer to them as “mountain goats” and just be done with it.

Yet despite being a solitary creature (even before coming into the Takeda household, Tsukki was accustomed to being alone, you see), he did find a measure of camaraderie with the group, though one pair had entirely too much energy to be given more than a condescending snort. In fact, a speckled one nearly as tall as himself with a tousle of particularly curly hair between the eyes irritated him least, and the two continued to chat and enjoy the mountain even when the rest had moved on.

Before they knew it, the song of common birds turned to the preaching of owls, and the cool of evening settled in blues and lavenders all around them. The mountain goat shivered. “Well Tsukki, I can show you more of the mountain tomorrow, but you’d best come with me now.”

Tsukki balked. He was not about to go from one guardian right into the grip of another. “But it’s newly sundown, we can see for a while yet.”

“Sorry Tsukki," the other persisted, "but I don’t think that’s a good idea. There are wolves here, you know.”

He stamped his foot in irritation. “I’ve had it with talk of wolves. You scuttle off home then, and I’ll find you tomorrow.” Turning, he continued his advance into the trees, conversation over. He heard the hesitation and eventual departure of his new friend, already less interesting than the agreeable flicker of fireflies dancing around his head. When the cloud of lights led him to a clearing, he saw the bright windows of the country town below and felt a pang of homesickness. Take-chan _had_ been awfully kind.

At that moment, two sounds reached his ears: the whine of Take-chan’s horn on the wind, calling him home one last time…

And, distressingly closer, the deep-throated howl of a wolf. With primal intensity a shiver shot through the length of Tsukki’s body, from the tips of his fair eyelashes to the ends of his hooves, nestled in the grass. Something rustled in the bushes just behind him, and suddenly stomping about the earnestly twisting blueberry bushes sounded immensely appealing. But imagining the swatch of lawn around him, with rough twine at his neck and the revoked dream of the mountain stretched beyond the fence resettled his conviction. He could never return to that life, quite simply.

The wind spoke no more of Take-chan’s horn.

With a frown of resignation and a turn of the head, Tsukki came eye-to-eye with a large shadow. Black as obsidian and with fur curling in unruly wisps away from a predator’s polished muscles, the wolf crouched motionless on his haunches and gave Tsukki a half-lidded stare, lazy only in form, for the eyes within burned with an undeniable intensity. The wolf’s ear gave a flick before his entire body melted into motion, fur rippling with playful confidence until he stood on all fours and the shadow beneath his eyes split into a brilliant white grin.

“Well aren’t you a pretty thing,” he chuckled in booming tones that nudged against Tsukki’s knees and nosed invasively by his chest. “Another of Takeda’s, are you?”

The kid blinked mildly, with none of the passion screaming in his mind that he had made a Giant Mistake. Like, eat some of the mint by the back door and then chase it down with some citrus Giant Mistake. He thought of Akiteru, and all of Take-chan’s previous goats, and figured it might just be better to give up. He wouldn’t put it past this wolf to have eaten everyone.

“Heh,” continued the wolf with an excited little side-prance, “it’s been a while since one came up here. I was wondering if the stories I’d heard were lies.”

The subsequent sweep of a swollen, scarlet tongue over fangs certainly upped the intimidation, but Tsukki’s mind got to working. The wolf had said stories, which meant he hadn’t actually killed any goats yet, himself. With another look, he found the wolf bulky, but figured that with his own height and physique, he could hold out. He locked into a defensive stance and lowered his head, pointing sturdy horns towards the wolf’s smile. Not that he had a hope of killing it, but if he could last as long as Akiteru, he figured it would make Take-chan at least a little proud.

The wolf sat up quickly and barked in surprise, a glint of interest leaping to his eyes. “You going to fight me? Sure, I’ll play a bit. What’s your name, pretty thing?”

Tsukki frowned but kept his posture. “…I’m called Tsukki.” Fighting for his life did not quite top his list for best ways to spend an evening, but he could not deny some intrigue at how this might play out. The wolf looked top-heavy, easy to imbalance.

“Tsukki huh, nice name for a nice looking goat.” His grin disappeared, fur swallowing his playful tone along with his teeth. “Kuroo. Not that you’ll need to remember it long.” He leapt forward with a powerful strength, cutting the distance between them more quickly than Tsukki expected.

Wide-eyed, Tsukki stepped back, tripping on a pebble. He leaned sharply to avoid the dead weight snarling towards him and quickly reset his defense. While Kuroo reclaimed his footing, Tsukki darted in, jamming his powerful hooves into the meat of the wolf’s inner flesh, before skirting back to the edge of what he figured a safe distance. At the yelp of pain, he smirked. “Sorry, was that too much for you?” He snickered. “Can you even see through that unnecessary fluff over your eye?”

“Hey! I can see just fine, you cheap shot” Kuroo bristled, sinking into himself ever so slightly.

It did not escape Tsukki’s notice. In fact, maybe he had more of a chance than he’d thought. He danced out of the way of a swiping claw, keeping a little closer to the failed hit than necessary. “Oh? Had me fooled….By the way,” he began, sneaking under another swipe, “did you name yourself? Couldn’t think of anything more inspired?” He knocked his horns roughly into one of Kuroo’s thickly-muscled thighs before darting back out of reach.

Kuroo growled, snapping his jaws in the wake of Tsukki’s back legs. “You’re not cute at all. Aren’t goats supposed to be cute?”

They continued dancing around each other this way, Tsukki keeping an eye on the moon’s trajectory over the sky whenever he could. As time went on, he stumbled more and noticed an increase in his labored breathing. But he wasn’t the only one who suffered, and thanks to his comments he managed to get a number of good hits in. And in some bizarre, fight-for-your-life kind of way, he found himself enjoying the banter.

He was actually having fun.

Finally, he heard the rustling sounds of morning beyond his wheezing breaths. It was now or never. “Anyway,” he huffed, mentally verifying his angle, “it’s been fun you mangy dog.” He leapt, seeing the trajectory of the coming events in his mind’s eye. Reacting to the comment the way he did to every other, Kuroo would use his powerful hind legs to push towards Tsukki—thus tumbling over the mountainside. There could be no other outcome.

Suddenly a thick branch with coarse foliage slammed him into the ground. He craned his neck, the branch morphing into a leg, which bloomed into the billowing tufts of Kuroo’s fur. “Going somewhere, pretty thing?” He practically vibrated with ill-contained amusement.

Tsukki scowled for all he was worth.

“Are you wondering why I didn’t careen over that cliff there?” His eyes flickered. “I had a feeling you were aiming for that. Good idea, but not really my goal for the evening.” He lifted the drooping paw, flipping Tsukki over with a chilling nonchalance before caging him in with his stance. “I just had to wait for your actual destination, change my tempo and all that.”

“Anyway,” he continued easily, “why don’t you stay on the mountain with me? You’re pretty fun.” He saw the disbelief fissure through Tsukki’s face. “I promise I won’t eat you though! I just want to hang out.”

Tsukki’s lips flapped wordlessly. If he were completely objective, it could maybe be reported that he possibly could be a little all right with that. He didn’t really have anywhere else to go. Didn't have a death wish either. “Do you have a goat fetish,” he deadpanned instead.

“N-no! Of course not!” Kuroo blanched, before regaining his composure. “But you didn’t say no. Come on, I don’t even like goat that much. Stay with me.” He backed off of Tsukki, training that sharp gaze on him again, tail thumping leisurely.

Rolling to his feet, Tsukki pointedly broke eye contact in order to stamp the dust off of his body. He really didn’t have anywhere else to go, and the guy could return a quip with some measure of competency. And he didn't salivate, so he probably wouldn't eat him. “…I’m only here because I want to be,” he finally responded, stalking into the forest of early dawn, ignoring the sweep of fur through grass just behind.

 

 


End file.
